Academics at Bradford University have accused both the British and Yugoslav governments of hampering efforts to hold a top international peace conference in the city this weekend.

For the last three weeks, organisers of the three-day event on the Balkan crisis which has attracted leading experts from around the world, have been filling out paperwork to bring participants from the war-torn states to the UK.

But four days ago, Yugoslav attendees were suddenly faced with demands for personal and financial information from the British Consulate in Belgrade to ensure they would not be seeking asylum in the UK. And many fear their presence at the event could put their lives or jobs at risk in their home country.

Dr John Allcock, head of the University of Bradford Research Unit in South-East European Studies, which is organising the event, said there were serious difficulties in constructing an informed dialogue on the way forward on the Balkan crisis. Governments were proving to be obstacles to change and not achieving progress towards stability and peace as they claimed.

He said: "The Home Office is paranoid about people arriving in this country saying they wish to attend an academic conference and then declaring that they wish to seek asylum here.

"The Yugoslav authorities have also made things difficult for us because of their heavy-handed treatment of the opposition."

He added that a number of people who planned to attend the conference had pulled out and that he did know how many of the 17 originally invited would be flying into the country today.

About £10,000 sponsorship has been raised for The Yugoslav Crisis: International Responses and the Way Forward from Bradford Council, the Foreign Office and the British Council among others. The event will examine the role that charities, aid organisations and pressure groups can play in bringing peace and will be held on Bradford University's campus.

Organiser Bob Jiggins said the Yugoslav visitors were upset and angry at their treatment by British officials. "It's an insult both to ourselves and the people concerned," he said.

A Foreign Office spokesman said it was wrong to suggest officials at the British Consulate had been acting improperly and that officials were following standard immigration procedure.

He said: "The difficulty we have in the office in Belgrade is that, because of the political situation, we do not have the same number of officers to process visas as quickly as we would like."

The conference continues until Sunday.

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